8b 

Z 

253 

.546 

1889 


"Th^z  l.^i\5toi\ 


^    T"yp^-iV\aQt\ii\^ 


PRESKNTBD    BY 


188  J 


„..^/.3fo.._-_^.2_. 


6/bH 


T^T\    A 


\r 


FRANKLIN  INSTITUTE  LIBRARY 


PHILADELPHIA 


Class. !o.5.5..-..2:.o  book. ..U.^.^.. 3...    accession. ...S.!..^..*^., 
REFERENCE 


Article  VI.— The  Secretary  shall  have  authority  to  loan  to  Members 
and  to  holders  of  second  class  stock,  any  work  belonging  to  the  sf.com> 
CL-VSS,  subject  to  the  following  regulations: 

Section  /.-No  individual  shall  be  permitted  to  have  more  than  two 
^ooks  out  at  one  time,  without  a  written  permission,  signed  by  at  least 
two  members  of  the  Library  Coramitte  ;  nor  shall  a  book  be  kept  out 
more  than  two  wkeks  ;  but  if  no  one  has  ajiplied  for  it,  the  former  bor- 
rower may  renew  the  loan.  Should  any  person  have  applied  lor  it,  the 
latter  shall  have  the  preference.  ,    ,,  ,  >.  a  f     ^\, . 

Section  2.—X  fixe  of  ten  cents  per  week  shall  be  exacted  tor  the 
detention  of  a  book  bevond  the  limited  time  ;  and  if  a  book  be  not  re- 
turned within  three  mbnths  it  shall  be  deemed  lost,  and  the  borrower 
shall,  in  addition  to  his  fines,  forfeit  its  value.  ,      ,      ,  ,    „ 

Section  5.— Should  anv  book  be  returned  injured,  the  borrower  shall 
pay  for  the  injurv,  or  replace  the  book,  as  the  Library  Committee  may 
direct :  and  if  oiie  or  more  books,  belonging  to  a  set  or  sets,  be  lost,  tin- 
borrower  shall  replace  them  or  make  full  restitution. 

AimcLE  VII.— Anv  person  removing  from  the  Hall,  without  permis- 
sion from  the  proper  authorities,  any  book,  newspaper  or  other  property 
in  charge  of  the  Library  Committee,  shall  l)e  reported  to  the  Committee, 
who  mav  inflict  any  fine  not  exceeding  twenty-five  dollars. 

\utici.e  VIII. —No  member  or  holder  ot  second  class  stock,  whose 
annual  contribution  for  the  current  year  shall  be  unpaid  or  who  is  m 
arrears  lor  fines,  shall  be  entitled  to  the  pnvdeges  of  the  Library  or 
Reading  Room.  , ,         ^  ,     ,  ^     i       u  n 

Article  IX.— If  any  member  or  holder  of  second  c  ass  stock,  shall 
refuse  or  neglect  to  complv  with  the  foregoing  rules,  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  Secretary  to  report  him  to  the  Committee  on  the  Library. 

\uticleX— \ny  Member  or  holder  of  second  class  stock,  detected 
in  mutilating  the  newspapers,  pamphlets  or  books  belonging  to  the  Insti- 
tute shall  be  deprived  of  hi.s  right  of  membership,  and  the  name  of  the 
offender  shall  be  made  public. 


lc55-'i-'5-  L'^'^'i 


-1- 


Experl  M  IiQJAl  I(eport5 


ON 


TKq  li^n^Ion 


*     Type-J^^cKine 


THE 


Lanston  Type-Machine. 


KXPERT    RKPORT 


, ;  ,G03:.jiH.iu;p..s^LLi:iy,  kl)'.,'" 


CONSULTING    ENGINEER;    PROF.    MECHANIC^    F^^N^LIX    1J4,STITITE ; 
PRACTICE,  slrkyENS'-T.^STIT'.'TE  oV'  TfXiCs'OLtJCVi  *yf^  HO^pKEN  ;  M 


PROF.    ENGINEERING 
MEMBER  OF  INSTI- 
TUTE   O^F    qiN^Ji;    TCNG'^^KS^  '^fP.  5fWi  •THD    Hs-^'/ITUtE    OF    MECHANICAL 
ENJINEElis;  d^EAT  BRITAIN  ;  PAST  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
SOCIETY    OF    MECHANICAL    ENGINEERS    AND    OF    THE 
FRANKLIN    INSTITUTE,  ETC.,  ETC.,  ETC., 


LKGAIv     REPORTS 


CHURCH  &   CHURCH 

AND 

W.  W.  GORDON 


NEW    YORK: 

1889. 


0.,Q:N.TEN,TS.  , 


PAGE 

Major  Jno.  AV.  Johnston's  Letter  to  Dr.  Henry  Morton    ...  3 

Dr.  Henry  Morton's  Reply 4 

Expert   Report   on  the   Lanston   Type-Machine   by   Coleman 

Sellers,  E.D 5 

Report   on   Legal  Condition  of   the    Lanston   Type-Machine 

CoMAPNY  BY  W.  W.  Gordon 20 

Report  on  the  Lanston  Patents  by^  Church  &  Church  ....  21 


New  York,  September  20,  1889. 

Dr.  Henry  Mortox, 

President  Stevens'  Institute  of  Technology, 
Hoboken,  New  Jersey  : 

My  dear  Sir, — Referring  to  our  conversation  this  day 
about  the  type-machine  invented  by  Mr.  Tolbert  Lanston,  of 
Washington,  D.  C,  I  beg  to  hand  you  herewith  certain  printed 
documents,  relating  thereto,  recently  issued  by  the  Lanston 
Type-Machine  Company. 

Having  followed  the  history  and  development  of  this  inven- 
tion for  several  years,  I  hare  recently  been  asked  to  place,  with 
myself  and  my  friends,  a  considerable  block  of  the  stock  of  the 
Lanston  Type-Machine  Company. 

Before  deciding  to  do  this,  I  wish  to  have  the  drawings,  the 
machine  and  its  workings,  and  the  proposed  improvements 
thoroughly  examined  by  some  mechanical  expert  of  established 
character  and  reputation.  Will  you  not  kindly  read  the  afore- 
said documents,  and,  if  you  think  the  subject  worthy  of  serious 
consideration,  recommend  to  me  some  gentleman  fully  compe- 
tent to  make  such  examination,  to  the  end  that  I  may,  if  pos- 
sible, secure  his  services  ? 
^^^^  Very  truly  yours, 

Jxo.  W.  Johnston. 


Stevens'  Institute  of  Technology, 

HoBOKEN,  N.  J.,  September  21,  1889. 

Jxo.  W.  Johnston,  Esq.  : 

Dear  Sir, — In  answer  to  yours  of  the  20th  instant  I  would 
say  that  the  man  pre-eminently  fit  to  make  such  an  examination 
us  you  indicate  is  Mr.  Coleman  Sellers,  E.D.,  of  Philadelphia. 

Mr.  Sellers  has  had  forty  years'  constant  experience  in  design- 
ing and  constructing  machinery  of  the  best  quality. 

For  over  thirty-tliree  years  he  was  engineer  of  the  great 
establishment  of  Wm.  Sellers  &  Co.,  and  there  are  few  of  the 
machine  tools  now  in  use  in  all  our  large  machine-shops,  which 
do  not  owe  something  of  their  present  efficiency  to  the  genius 
and  experience  of  Mr.  Coleman  Sellers. 

I  should  rely  upon  his  judgment  as  to  the  practicability  of  a 
machine  or  of  proposed  modifications  more  than  on  that  of  any 
other  man  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Sellers's  reputation  as  a  mechanical  engineer  is  coexten- 
sive with  that  profession.  He  is  an  honorary  or  active  member 
of  the  chief  engineering  societies  of  Europe  as  well  as  this 
country,  and  indeed  it  would  be  quite  superfluous  for  me  to 
introduce  him  to  any  member  of  the  American  or  English  soci- 
eties of  mechanical  or  civil  engineers,  as  he  is  well  known  to  all 
of  them  personally  and  by  reputation. 

If  you  can  secure  Mr.  Sellers's  services  in  this  matter,  you 
will  have  a  thoroughly  reliable  and  competent  guide. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Henry  Morton, 

President. 


REPORT. 


3301  Baring  Street,  Philadelphia,  October  23,  1889. 
INIajor  Jno.  W.  Johnston,  New  York  : 

Dear  Sir, — The  reports  already  submitted,  as  to  the  opera- 
tion and  results  of  the  Lanston  type-machine,  examined  by  me 
in  Washington,  D.  C,  having  served  their  purpose  in  enabling 
you  and  the  limited  number  of  persons  interested  to  judge  of 
the  value  of  the  invention,  I  now  combine  the  arguments  con- 
tained in  both,  and,  as  you  request,  extend  the  calculations  of 
the  prospective  profit  to  accrue  to  the  Lanston  Co.,  and  saving 
to  the  users  of  the  machines,  that  one  report  may  cover  the 
whole  ground. 

Mr.  Tolbert  Lanston,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  has  now  on  ex- 
hibition in  that  city  a  machine  for  casting  separate  type  of  the 
usual  commercial  form,  and  at  the  same  time  setting  them  in 
justified  lines  ready  for  the  press,  the  operation  being  controlled 
by  strips  of  paper  punched  on  another  machine  called  the  key- 
board. This  key-board  is  like  a  type- writer,  and  is  operated  in 
the  same  manner,  and,  being  separate  from  the  casting-machine, 
the  operation  of  which  it  governs  but  does  not  impede,  it  may 
be  located  away  from  the  heat  of  the  casting-machine,  and  it 
requires,  on  the  part  of  the  operator,  no  knowledge  of  the 
mechanical  detail  or  adjustment  of  the  power-driven  casting 
machinery. 

The  casting  and  setting  machine  is  driven  by  belt  from  any 
source  of  power,  at  a  regular  speed,  dependent  on  the  size  of  the 
type  being  cast  and  the  possible  rapid  cooling  of  the  same,  the 
highest  speed  being  obtainable  when  casting  the  smallest  type. 
The  types  produced  by  this  machine  differ  in  no  essential  respect 
from  those  in  common  use  either  in  height  or  body  dimensions, 
and  may  be  "  nicked"  as  those  set  by  hand,  if  they  are  to  be 

.     5 


6  Expert  and  Legal  Reports  on 

sold  after  first  use,  as  commercial  type.  It  has  been  claimed  by 
the  inventor  that  they  will  meet  with  a  ready  sale,  if  distributed 
and  sorted,  or  sold  in  the  page  as  they  stand.  While  recog- 
nizing this  source  of  profit  to  the  users  of  the  machines,  I  do 
not  take  such  sale  into  consideration  in  my  estimate  of  the  out- 
put of  the  machines  and  the  cost  of  running  them. 

My  investigation  into  the  merits  of  the  invention  has  ex- 
tended, first,  to  a  careful  and  thorough  inspection  of  the  experi- 
mental machine  on  exhibition.  Its  only  apparent  defects  in 
type  produced  are  those  due  to  faulty  work  of  the  mould-makers 
who  punched  the  face-moulds.  All  such  defects  are  purely 
technical  and  easy  of  correction. 

The  key-board  that  punches  the  two  strips  of  paper,  which 
control  the  action  of  the  casting  machinery,  works  with  pre- 
cision, but  is  a  crude  production  as  compared  to  the  perfected 
key-board  to  be  used  with  the  perfected  machine  for  casting. 

My  second  examination  was  of  the  working  of  the  perfected 
key-board,  now"  so  far  done  as  to  permit  use,  and  its  operation  is 
very  satisfactory.  In  touch,  it  is  lighter  than  that  of  any 
type- writer  I  have  used  or  tried.  It  differs  from  the  key-board 
of  the  experimental  machine  in  many  particulars,  the  main  one 
being  that  it  punches  one  strip  of  paper  only,  while  the  experi- 
mental machine  requires  two  papers,  fed  each  to  separate  parts 
of  the  machine,  perfect  result  depending  upon  the  proper  regis- 
tration of  the  two  strips  in  the  casting-machine.  The  great  ad- 
vantage of  the  one-paper  system  (to  be  used  in  the  perfected 
macliincs)  is  the  avoidance  of  errors  from  faulty  registration  and 
from  the  possible  combination  of  the  strips  not  belonging  to  one 
another. 

My  third  examination  was  confined  to  the  thorough  under- 
standing of  the  drawings  now  being  made  of  the  perfected  cast- 
ing-machine, which  drawings  have  been  so  far  finished  as  to  per- 
mit a  clear  understanding  of  the  operation  of  the  machine,  and 
are  also  so  far  executed  in  design  as  to  make  sure  their  comple- 
tion by  one  skilled  in  such  machinery  in  case  of  the  death  or 
incapacity  of  the  inventor. 

My  fourth  line  of  investigation  has  been  conducted  away 
from  the  experimental  machine,  in  consultation  with  experts  in 


The  Lansfon  Type- Machine.  7 

their  several  departments,  as  to  the  profitable  perfection  and  use 
of  the  invention.  I  have  carefully  studied  it  in  comparison 
with  the  work  of  good  compositors,  and  at  your  request  in  com- 
parison with  the  operation  of  some  other  patented  machines 
allso,  aiming  to  supersede  hand-work. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  calculations  of  profit,  I  will  exi)lain 
the  defects  which  you  and  experts  have  noted  in  the  work  of  the 
experimental  machine,  and  show  why  any  further  expenditure  on 
a  purely  experimental  machine  would  be  unwise,  the  demonstra- 
tion being  technically  sufficient. 

My  personal  experience  with  type-casting  machines  extends 
over  a  period  of  fully  forty  years.  Having  access  to  leading 
type-foundries  and  to  the  type-setting-rooms  of  many  publish- 
ing houses,  I  have  been  able  to  compare  my  own  conclusions 
with  the  opinions  of  experts  in  their  several  lines.  The  experts 
who  have  examined  the  work  of  the  machine  critically,  and  to 
whom  I  have  explained  its  principle  and  operation,  confirm  my 
opinion  that  all  defects  manifest  in  the  output  of  the  present 
machine  indicate  that  they  might  be  overcome  in  the  experi- 
mental machine,  and  its  product  would  be  what  is  expected  from 
the  perfected  machine. 

I  am  in  receipt  of  nine  lines  of  matter  cast  for  me  on  the 
experimental  machine  to  show  the  defects  in  the  alignment  and 
the  face  of  some  type. 

SAMPLE  OF  WORK  DONE  BY  THE  EXPERIiVIENTAL  LANSTON  TYPE- 
MACHINE. 

Dear  Mr.   Sellers:— 
I  send  you  these  lines  of  type  specially  cast  for  you  as 
specimens.     I  hope  that   they  may  he  satisfactory,  and  that 
they  may  aid  you  in  the  very  thorough  investigation  as  to 
our  methods  and  results  which  you  are  now  making. 

Very  Respectfully, 

TOLBERT    LanSTON. 

W oBliington .  D.  C, 

October  17  th,  1889. 

Upon  receipt  of  this  sample,  which  was  to  take  the  place  of 
matter  I  had  brought  with  me  from  Washington,  and  which  was 
cast  while  I  was  watching  the  machine  in  operation,  but  which 


8  Expert  and  Legal  Reports  on 

I  had  accidentally  pied,  I  sent  for  another  sample,  showing  the 
full  fount  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  distinct  faces,  leaving 
thirty-six  keys  unrepresented,  which  set  the  many  widths  of 
spaces,  besides  the  keys  required  to  control  the  justification  of 
the  lines. 

SAMPLE  OF  FOUNT  CAST  ON  LANSTON  MACHINE. 
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR  STU  VW 

XYZ.    ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU 

vwxYZ.  abcdefghijklmnopqrstu 
yy^xjz.  ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP 

QBSTUVWXYZ.  ahcdefgliijklm 
no'pqvstuvwxyz.  .    ;   ,  -  "m"  [m]  :   !  ?  (m)  'm' 

!  1  2  3  A  5  6  7  8  9  0  $  y^  %  }i  %  %  %  %  %  %  @  tb 

££&%i^-^%% ^ts't^Mb@@ **=!=*•?????!!!!!£  ^ts-^ 

00000  omomomomom  nnnnn  sssss  smsmsmsmsm  vvvvv  vmvin 
kkkkk  kmkmkmkmkm  rrrrr  rmrmrmrmrm  ggegg  gmgmgmg 
MMMMMMM  LLLLLLLLLL  0000000000 

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH     HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 

SAMPLE  OF  WORK  AND  WORD-SPACING. 

When  iu  the  coiu'se  of  hiimaii  events  it  becomes   (Normal) 
When  in  the  coui'se  of  human  events  it  becomes 
When  in  the  coiu'se  of  human  events  it  becomes 
When  iu  the  course  of  human  events  it  becomes 
When  in  the  course  of  human  events  it  becomes 
When  iu  the  course  of  human  events  it  becomes 
When  in  the  course  of   human  events  it  becomes 
When  in  the  coui'se   of  human  events  it  becomes 
When   in    the    coiu^se    of    human    events    it    becomes 
When    in   the    course    of    human    events    it    becomes 
When    in    the    course    of    human    events    it    becomes 
When    in    the    course    of    human    events    it    becomes 
When    in    the    coiu'se    of    human    events    it    becomes 
When    in    the    course    of    human    events    it    becomes 

The  sample  given  above,  showing  the  same  line  repeated  with 
increasing  width  of  word  spaces,  is  to  illustrate  the  capability  of 
the  machine  in  spacing,  and  by  the  repetition  of  the  same  line 
to  show  the  persistence  of  the  same  faults  in  each  individual 
letter,  as  well  as  in  any  want  of  proper  alignment.  The  Lans- 
ton  machine  is  provided  with  one  mould  for  each  letter ;  that 
mould  is  presented  to  the  matrix  that  forms  the  body  of  the 


The  Lanston  Type-3Iachine.  9 

type,  each  letter-mould  being  held  to  position  by  the  same  fixed 
guide.  If  the  workman  who  sinks  the  die  places  the  impression 
properly,  it  will  for  all  time  be  correctly  presented  to  its  body 
matrix.  The  uniformity  of  the  errors  shows  that  they  are 
faults  of  placement  only,  apart  from  defects  in  the  form  of  the 
letter-face.  I  have  tested  many  of  the  faulty  types  with  the 
instruments  of  precision  used  in  the  type-foundry.  The  same 
test  applied  to  the  letters  that  are  the  most  satisfactory  shows 
such  types  to  be  correct  in  all  required  respects,  while  the  faulty 
ones  point  to  what  is  needed  in  the  way  of  correction.  As  an 
example,  the  lower-case  or  small  s  *  shows  in  all  cases  the  lower 
left  hand  too  heavy  for  the  corresponding  top  of  the  letter. 
The  type  forming  the  s  placed  in  the  gauge  used  to  test  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  top  surface  of  or  face  of  the  type,  called  the 
face-gauge,  shows  that  the  dark  end  is  the  highest,  and  thus  by 
its  prominence  is  made  to  give  the  deepest  impression. 

My  examination  of  the  types  produced  has  not  been  confined 
to  the  examination  of  their  width  only,  as  compared  to  commer- 
cial type,  but  has  extended  to  all  the  tests  to  which  type-founders 
are  obliged  to  submit  their  product,  to  keep  up  the  standard  of 
excellence  that  makes  the  product  of  their  skill  one  of  the 
marvels  of  mechanic  art.  So  that  in  explanation  of  the  defects 
observable  by  critics  in  all  of  the  above,  I  will  say  that  want 
of  proper  alignment  or  regularity  in  letter-spacing  show  errors  in 
die-sinking  all  capable  of  correction  by  experts  in  making  the 
moulds  for  type-founders.  The  style  of  face  of  the  type  and 
errors  showing  in  comparative  size  of  letters  are  all  due  to  the 
want  of  care  in  the  workmen  who  made  the  punches.  The 
same  methods,  available  to  the  type-founder,  of  copying  the 
faces  of  existing  founts  of  type  can  be  used  in  making  the  moulds 
for  this  machine. 

Mr.  Lanston  would  have  been  warranted  in  perfecting  the 
moulds  used  in  the  experimental  machine  but  for  the  fact  that 
all  such  work  would  have  been  useless,  as  the  moulds  for  the 
experimental  machine  can  not  be  used  in  the  perfected  machine, 

*  Type  cast  on  Laiistun  nniohine  set  iu  combination  with  ordinarj-  long 
primer. 


10  Expert  and  Legal  Reports  on 

the  design  of  that  machine  being  very  different  and  more  sim- 
ple. Tiie  present  demonstration  of  the  principles  involved  is 
satisfactory  to  experts. 

In  starting  the  cold  machine  in  my  presence,  one  line  only  was 
lost  from  imperfectly  filled  bodies,  the  matrix  having  been  too 
cold.  Such  loss  in  practice  is  avoided  by  casting  a  few  lines  of 
letters  or  quods  to  be  remelted  if  imperfect  before  beginning  the 
matter  for  the  press. 

Small  bits  of  type-metal  carried  with  the  type  into  the  loose 
galley  fall  out  or  can  be  removed  when  lifting  each  line  from 
the  machine  galley  to  the  printer's  galley  in  making  ready  for 
the  press.  Small  bits  of  metal  have,  it  is  said,  been  seen  to 
adhere  to  the  sides  of  some  type.  I  noticed  but  one  or  two  types 
so  deformed.  The  excrescence,  no  larger  than  a  pin's  head,  was 
removed  with  my  knife;  and  the  attendant  of  the  machine, 
seeing  such  defects,  can  remove  them.  The  fact  of  the  types 
being  separate  permits  the  replacement  of  any  defective  type  by 
a  perfect  one  from  a  fount  of  perfect  type  by  the  workmen  who 
corrects  the  errors  found  by  the  proof-reader.  The  justification 
of  the  lines  cast  by  the  machine  is  as  perfect  as  the  average 
justification  by  compositors. 

The  speed  of  the  experimental  machine  is  below  that  to  be 
expected  from  the  perfected  machine,  owing  to  errors  in  con- 
struction of  the  frame  of  the  machine,  want  of  space  for  the 
contained  machinery,  and  want  of  room  for  the  application  of 
sufficient  cooling  blast,  as  well  as  other  technical  defects  to  be 
corrected  in  future  machines. 

The  process  of  setting  type  by  machines,  either  from  founts  of 
existing  type  or  by  casting  such  type  either  separately  or  in  so^'d 
lines,  depends  upon  two  operations.  The  first,  that  of  the  key- 
board, requires  skill  and  mental  effort.  The  manipulation  of  tl. 
keys  is  at  varying  speeds,  dependent  on  skill  of  the  operator  and 
on  the  clearness  of  the  copy  to  be  set  up.  When  the  key-l)oard 
is  attached  to  the  casting-machine,  the  operation  of  the  latter  is 
hampered  by  the  irregularities  of  the  manual  work  of  the 
operator.  The  casting-machine  may  also  hamper  the  operation 
of  the  key-board,  when  the  size  of  the  type  cast  is  to  be  con- 
sidered as  to  the  speed  of  cooling.     With  the  two  operations 


The  Lanston  Type-3Iachine.  11 

combined  in  one  machine,  the  key-board  operator  must  have 
knowledge  of  the  machine  that  casts,  and  be  able  to  keep  it  in 
adjustment,  or  wait  for  the  help  of  a  skilled  attendant.  In 
separating  the  key-board  from  the  casting-machine  the  brain- 
work  part  of  the  operation  is  taken  away  from  a  machine  that 
does  not  call  for  such  effort,  and  which  will  work  better  if  run 
at  a  regular  rate  of  speed.  By  such  separation  each  machine 
can  be  placed  to  the  best  advantage  and  comfort  of  the  operators. 
The  professional  work  equivalent  to  the  type-setting  is  relegated 
+0  the  composing-room,  away  from  the  noise  and  heat  of  the 
purely  mechanical  operation  of  casting  type.  The  Lanston  key- 
b:  urd  can  be  used  in  the  composing-room  of  the  printing-house 
q:  in  the  office  of  the  railroad  company  or  commercial  house 
requiring  much  printed  matter.  It  is  simply  a  type-writer  with 
an  extended  key-board  to  be  operated  by  the  same  kind  of  talent, 
to  which  has  been  added  a  few  hours'  instruction  in  "justification." 

The  "justification"  as  affected  by  the  Lanston  machine  is 
mechanical,  the  operator  following  the  indications  furnished  by 
the  machine  itself. 

Mr.  Tolbert  Lanston  has  struck  the  key-note  to  success  in 
separating  the  brain-work  of  the  compositor  from  the  mechanical 
operation  of  casting  type.  He  has  by  this  separation  made  it 
possible  for  the  compositor,  in  less  than  eight  hours'  work,  to 
feed  a  machine  for  a  full  day's  work  of  ten  hours,  the  casting- 
machine  working  regularly  and  without  any  interruption  under 
the  attention  of  a  comparatively  unskilled  workman.  The  two 
machines,  combined  in  result  but  separate  in  practice,  can  be  run 
at  less  cost  and  greater  profit  than  any  method  of  famishing  nuifter 
for  the  printing-press  iliat  has  come  to  my  notice,  as  I  shall  presently 
show. 

Those  who  have  read  the  description  of  the  Lanston  type- 
machine,  as  furnished  by  the  inventor  and  his  experts,  may  have 
noticed  that  he  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  key-board  per- 
forms its  work  independently  of  the  size  or  kind  of  type  the 
matter  is  to  be  set  in.  That,  from  the  same  band  of  paper, 
printed  matter  can  be  furnished  in  any  size  or  face  of  type  with 
which  the  casting-machines  have  been  fitted.  This  is  true,  but 
may  be   misleading  to  the   professional   printer,  and  must   be 


12  Expert  and  Legal  Reports  on 

accepted  with  reservation.  The  operator  of  the  key-board  must 
know  in  advance  the  number  of  "  eras"  required  to  each  line, 
and  the  machine  is  set  to  the  required  length  of  line,  measured 
by  ems,  regardless  of  the  size  of  type  to  be  used.  With  thirty 
ems  to  the  line,  the  matter  cast  in  pica,  or  twelve-point  type,  will 
be  represented  by  a  line  five  inches  long,  as  six  pica  M's  of 
type  measure  one  inch  "  running  ways,"  or  in  the  length  of  the 
line.  Nonpareil  type,  of  six  points,  will,  with  the  same  number 
of  ems,  give  a  line  two  and  a  half  inches  long,  and  so  in  pro- 
portion for  every  size  of  type  between  the  above  sizes.  If  the 
key-board  operator  is  notified  of  the  combination  of  sizes  in  one 
page,  he  can  arrange  spaces  to  permit  two  lines  of  one  size,  or 
parts  of  lines,  to  be  placed  end  to  end,  to  make  smaller  types  fill 
the  page  in  union  with  larger  ones.  The  operator  of  the  key- 
board, having  set  the  index  to  the  required  number  of  ems  per 
line,  has  before  him  a  scale  upon  which  a  hand  points  to  the 
type  set  by  his  movements  of  the  keys.  When  the  line  is  full 
enough,  and  no  word  or  syllable  can  be  added  safely,  he  has  but 
to  notice  the  figures  indicated  by  the  pointer  on  the  justifying 
scale,  and  touching  the  so-numbered  keys  of  justification,  he 
gives  to  the  strip  of  paper  punched  the  power  to  control  the 
perfect  filling  of  that  line  of  type. 

In  the  type-casting  machine  the  justifying  holes  in  the  paper 
enter  in  advance  of  the  holes  for  type  composing  the  line ;  thus 
the  justifying  devices  of  the  machine  are  set  to  control  the  even 
enlargement  of  the  word  spaces  to  the  perfection  of  the  length  of 
the  line. 

HEIGHT  OF  TYPE  AND  QUODS.* 

The  blank  spaces  filled  by  quods  at  the  ends  of  short  lines,  or 
wherever  space  is  required  free  from  letters,  are  made  up  of  em 
quods,  not  by  the  wide  quods  used  in  hand-set  composition. 
Those  em  quods  are  supplied  in  rapid  succession  both  in  the 
work  of  the  key-board  and  by  the  casting-machine,  the  spaces 
and  other  blank  types  or  quods  being  as  high  as  the  body  of  the 

*  "  Qviod"  (abbreviation  of  quadrate),  a  low  square  blank  type  used  to  in- 
dent the  first  line  of  a  paragraph,  and  to  fill  in  blank  spaces. — American 
Printer. 


The  Lanston  Type- Machine.  13 

letters.  The  height  of  the  blank  or  "  fat"*  matter  is  admirably 
adapted  for  the  use  of  such  pages  in  stereotyping.  The  samples 
of  printing  furnished  by  Mr.  Lanston  representing  poetry  in 
short  lines  and  much  blank  space,  all  produced  directly  from 
the  standing  type  cast  on  his  machine,  show  no  signs  of  blacking 
from  high  quods.  All  such  blank  spaces  can  be  "  routed,"  or 
cut  lower,  after  being  locked  in  the  form  by  the  machines  used 
to  lower  such  spaces  in  stereotype  work. 

Without  going  any  farther  into  the  description  of  the  ma- 
chines given  fully  by  the  inventor  and  his  experts  in  their  sev- 
eral pamphlets,  I  will  endeavor  to  show  the  value  of  the  inven- 
tion as  compared  to  hand  composition,  and  briefly  compare  its 
operation  with  that  of  the  Linotype,  which  is  a  machine  now 
extensively  used,  and  which  enables  an  operator  working  at  a 
key-board  attached  to  the  machine  to  set  lines  of  type  of  any 
required  length  ;  such  lines,  upon  completion  and  perfect  justi- 
fication mechanically,  are  then  cast  as  solid  lines  and  dropped 
into  a  galley  while  the  succeeding  line  is  being  set  and  justified; 
the  comparison  being  for  the  purpose  of  showing  what  has  been 
accomplished  by  mechanical  help  to  compositors  and  what  can 
be  done. 

The  Linotype  has  a  key-board  of  one  hundred  and  seven  sep- 
arate keys  arranged  in  four  rows,  and  this  number  of  keys  is 
said  to  be  sufficient  to  cover  not  only  all  required  faces  of  type 
to  be  used,  as  from  one  fount,  but  also  on  some  machines  to  meet 
the  requirement  of  many  logotypes,  with  faces  set  body-ways 
such  logotypes  being  much  used  in  printing  addresses  for  wrap- 
pers,— thus,  I  Tolbert  Lanston ;  the  twelve  months,  expressed 
by  three  letters  eacii,  Jan.,  Feb.,  Mar.,  etc. ;  Mrs.,  Mr.,  Dr.,  box, 
etc.;  to  the  extent  perhaps  of  twenty  keys  are  so  employed. 

The  Lanston  key-board,  in  comparison  with  the  above,  is  sep- 
arate from  the  casting-machine,  and  is  very  much  like  an  ordi- 
nary type-writer  with  a  bank  of  keys,  in  fifteen  rows,  each  row 
having  fifteen  keys,  making  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  in  all. 
Mr.  Lanston  has  utilized  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  of  the 
keys  with  what  he  thought  useful  characters,  but  the  large  num- 

*  Poetry,  or  other  leaded  matter. 


14  Expert  and  Legal  Reports  on 

ber  of  keys  on  the  experimental  machine,  as  shown  on  page  8, 
makes  the  use  of  "  logotyj)es"  veiy  practical  and  convenient, 
such  "  word  types"  being  confined  to  the  words  that  can  be 
placed  on  an  "  era"  body,  such  as  "  to,"  "  at,"  "  no,"  "  its,"  etc., 
besides  all  the  logotypes  found  convenient  on  the  Linotype,  the 
latter  being  in  smaller  type  than  the  fount  in  use. 

SPEED. 
The  speed  of  the  type-casting  machine  will  be  as  great  as,  if 
not  greater  than,  the  ordinary  type-casting  machine  running  on 
the  same  size  of  type  body.  It  should  be  greater,  inasmuch 
as  the  number  of  face-moulds  presented  to  the  one  body  matrix 
favors  cooling.  The  experimental  machine  has  been  run  at  the 
rate  of  one  hundred  and  two  types  per  minute  in  casting  long 
primer,  with  its  imperfect  blast  for  cooling.  As  the  largest 
letter  body  is  the  em,  interspersed  with  many  thinner  bodies  for 
letters  calling  for  less  space,  the  speed  should  be  the  same  as 
that  of  other  type-casting  machines,  so  that  an  average  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  revolutions  per  minute  will  be  a  low 
estimate,  in  consideration  of  the  great  number  of  smaller  sizes 
of  type  than  long  primer  on  newspaper  work,  one  hundred  and 
eighty  being  the  speed  per  minute  at  which  minion  and  smaller 
type  can  be  cast. 

SPEED  OF  THE  KEY-BOARD  OPERATION. 
In  my  former  report  I  named  one  hundred  and  eighty  as  the 
probable  speed  in  key  movements  per  minute,  inasmuch  as  one 
hundred  and  eighty  key  motions  on  a  type-writer  result  in 
thirty-six  words  per  minute.  I  am  now  confirmed  in  the  cer- 
tainty of  two  hundred  key  movements  per  minute  being  more 
nearly  the  fair  average.  Assuming,  however,  one  hundred  and 
eighty-five  as  quite  within  bounds,  we  have  eleven  thousand  one 
hundred  per  hour  and  eighty-eight  thousand  eight  hundred 
in  a  day  of  eight  hours.*     All  key  movements,  as  well  as  all 

*The  perfected  Lanston  key-board  is  operated  by  electricity,  and  has 
tbe  power  to  repeat  the  same  letter  or  space  continously  so  long  as  any  one 
key  is  held  down,  at  a  rate  very  much  more  rapid  than  can  be  with  com- 
fort accomplished  by  repeated  strokes  of  the  same  key.     This  faculty  of 


The  Lanston  Type-Machine.  16 

revolutions  of  the  type-casting  machine,  do  not  produce  type. 
Some  key  strokes  relate  to  justification,  and  some  revolutions 
of  the  type-casting  machine  to  the  act  of  justification  and  to 
the  movement  of  the  line  cast  into  the  galley.  It  is  needful 
to  find  the  relation  between  available  motions  and  those  lost  in 
the  justifying  process. 

Compositors  are  paid  for  their  work  by  the  thousand  ems, 
the  number  of  ems  to  the  line  being  computed  by  graduated 
scales  which  are  laid  off  in  "  ems"  of  each  size  of  type.  In 
computing  the  cost  of  composition,  the  foreman  counts  the  types 
in  each  line  and  finds  the  relation  to  the  ems  by  application  of 
his  scale  to  the  standing  type  in  length  of  line.  Since  my  first 
report  was  written  I  have  tabulated  a  large  number  of  pages 
and  columns  in  many  sizes  of  type,  and  find  the  average  number 
of  types  per  em  to  be  2.016,  but  as  I,  in  my  first  report,  assumed 
2.2  tvpes  to  the  em,  I  will  continue  the  use  of  that  number. 
Pages  run  from  forty  to  twenty  ems  per  line,  and  I  assume  as 
the  average  thirty  ems  to  the  line.  30  x  2.2  give  66  types  per 
line,  and  as  three  key  motions  and  three  revolutions  of  the 
type-casting  machine  are  used  in  justifying  each  line,  besides 
one  to  move  the  line  into  the  galley,  we  have  seventy  key 
movements  to  each  thirty  ems  of  type  cast  and  justified.  From 
this  we  have  by  the  simple  rule  of  three  the  result  of  the  eighty- 
eight  thousand  eight  hundred  key  movements  in  a  day  of  eight 
hours ;  for,  as  seventy  is  to  thirty  so  is  eighty-eight  thousand 
eight  hundred  to  thirty-eight  thousand  odd  ems  per  day. 

automatic  repetition  enables  all  "  fat"  matter  to  be  filled  in  with  surprising 
rapidity.  Tims,  if  a  line  is  to  be  cast  blank,  the  key  of  the  "  em"  quod  is 
held  down,  and  the  index  races  to  the  end  of  the  line  without  any  effort  on 
the  part  of  the  operator.  In  comparing  the  work  of  the  key-board  operator 
with  that  of  the  type-writer,  the  latter  has  no  equivalent  to  this  mechanical 

repetition  in   such  work   as   dashes;  thus,  - ,   which  require  a 

separate  key  movement  to  each  one. 

"With  this  principle  of  the  machine  in  view,  the  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  key  movements  per  minute  is  a  very  low  speed.  I  can  operate  a  type- 
writer, using  but  one  finger  of  each  hand,  making  no  error,  two  hundred 
and  sixty  key  movements  per  minute. 


16  Export  and  Legal  Reports  on 

SPEED  OF  CASTING. 

The  same  computation  applied  to  the  castiug-machiue,  on  the 
assumption  that  it  will  make  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  revo- 
lutions per  minute  and  may  be  run  with  other  machinery  for 
ten  hours  to  the  day,  135  x  60  =  8100  per  hour  and  81,000 
per  day  of  ten  hours.  To  get  at  the  loss  from  justification  we 
apply  the  same  rule,  and  as  seventy  is  to  thirty  so  is  eighty-one 
thousand  to  thirty-four  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventeen 
ems  per  day,  so  that  in  round  numbers  a  key-board  operator  can 
do  the  work  representing  the  setting  up  of  thirty-eight  thousand 
ems  in  eight  hours,  and  the  type-casting  machine  will  cast  thirty- 
five  thousand  ems  in  ten  hours.  The  estimate  of  the  speed  of 
the  casting-machine  being  based  on  actual  knowledge,  we  can 
safely  say  that  one  key-board  will  more  than  feed  one  type- 
casting machine.  This  is  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  the 
separation  of  the  two  operations. 

To  enable  the  holders  of  Lanston  type-machine  stock  to  form 
some  idea  of  its  value,  I  will  compare  the  operation  of  the 
machine  with  the  cost  of  hand-set  type.  In  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, compositors  are  paid  at  the  rate  of  forty  cents  per 
thousand  ems  both  on  book  and  on  newspaper  work,  the  Phila- 
delphia Public  Ledger  alone  paying  forty-five  cents.  A  pub- 
lished statement  of  the  wages  earned  by  workmen  in  various 
trades  gives  for  the  city  of  New  York  forty  cents  per  thousand 
ems  for  day-work,  and  fifty  cents  for  night-work. 

Compositoi*s  on  book-work  earn  on  an  average  two  dollars 
per  day  of  ten  hours  in  setting  and  distributing  five  thousand 
ems,  while  good  workmen  on  good  takes  may  set  eight  thousand 
and  earn  three  dollars  and  twenty  cents. 

On  the  assumption  that  by  means  of  the  key-board  thirty- 
eight  thousand  ems  may  be  set  in  eight  hours  as  compared  to 
five  thousand  by  hand,  and  letting  such  operator  earn  two  dol- 
lars with  the  chance  of  exceeding  that  sum  by  piece-work,  we 
have  thirty-eight  thousand  ems  at  two  dollars,  plus  fifteen  cents 
to  cover  the  cost  of  paper  and  power, — two  dollars  and  fifteen 
cents  per  day,  or  five  and  sixth-tenths  cents  per  thousand  ems. 
The  assumed  output  of  the  casting-machine  running  ten  hours 


The  Lanston  Type-3Iachine.  17 

is  thirty-five  thousand  eras,  requiring  the  attention  of  a  boy  at 
seventy-five  cents  per  day  under  the  ovei-sight  of  one  three-dol- 
lar attendant  to  six  or  more  machines ;  and,  taking  one  dollar 
and  ten  cents  as  the  cost  of  power  repairs  per  day  and  loss  on 
metal  in  remelting,  we  have  for  the  total  cost  of  setting  thirty- 
five  thousand  ems, — 

35,000  ems  at  5Jly  cents  for  the  key-board 11.96 

One-sixth  machinest  at  $3.00 60 

Boy 75 

Loss  on  metal .10 

Power .50 

Kepairs  per  day .50 

Total $4.31 

35,000  ems  set  by  hand  at  .40 $14.40 

35,000  ems  set  by  hand  at  .30 $10.50 

At  thirty  cents  the  publisher  saves  twenty-five  per-cent.  over 
the  usual  cost,  and  the  difference  to  cover  all  royalties  that  may 
be  charged  and  showing  as  profit  to  the  Lanston  Co.  is  $10.50 
less  $4.31  =  $6.19  per  day. 

In  the  above  estimate  of  cost,  the  loss  only  on  metal  used  is 
given.  All  users  of  mechanical  type-setting  machines  that  re- 
quire type-metal,  casting  lines  of  type,  or  even  whole  pages  of 
matter,  take  advantage  of  the  fact  that  the  comparatively  soft 
type-metal  at  low  price,  say  five  and  a  half  to  six  cents  per  pound, 
gives  better  result  at  low  heat  than  the  harder  high-priced  metals 
used  in  making  the  best  quality  of  commercial  type.  INIuch  of 
the  type  in  the  market  at  low  price  is  made  of  this  kind  of  metal. 
Thirty-five  thousand  ems  of  long  primer  will  weigh  about  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  pounds,  and  the  cost  of  the  metal  for 
one  day's  work,  as  above  estimated  at  five  and  a  half  cents,  will 
be, — adding  five  per  cent,  for  loss, — nine  dollars  and  twenty  cents, 
— as  compared  to  the  same  amount  of  new  type,  wiiich  would 
cost  seventy-one  dollai-s  and  seventy-five  cents  at  forty-six  cents 
and  twelve  per  cent.  off.  On  book-work  the  deterioration  of 
type  is  so  slow  as  to  be  of  no  account  in  estimating  cost.  On 
newspaper  work  the  loss  is  as  great  as  twenty  to  twenty-five  per 
cent,  per  annum,  from  the  damage  done  in  beating  the  paper  for 


18  Expert  and  Legal  Reports  on 

the  stereotype  plate  on  to  the  type  and  the  heating  of  the  type  to 
dry  the  wet  paper. 

The  Lanston  type-machine  will  commend  itself  to  the  work  of 
newspaper  printing,  as  it  gives  to  each  issue  a  new  face  at  low 
price,  and,  so  far  as  loss  of  metal  is  concerned  in  remelting,  such 
loss  will  be  as  nothing  to  the  deterioration  of  the  type  by  the 
methods  now  used  to  duplicate  the  forms. 

In  answer  to  questions  as  to  pfofitable  use  of  one  casting- 
machine  only  by  small  publishers,  I  would  say  that  the  united 
wages  of  the  boy  at  seventy-five  cents  and  one-sixth  of  a  three- 
dollar  machinist  is  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents,  good  pay 
for  one  competent  to  care  for  the  machine.  If  the  one  dollar 
and  twenty-five  cents  be  on  the  basis  of  thirty-five  thousand  ems 
cast,  piece-work  on  such  basis  would  enable  the  attendant  to 
earn  at  least  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  day,  the  pay  of  an 
average  machinist.  There  is  no  work  required  in  connection 
with  the  casting-machine  that  cannot  be  accomplished  by  an  in- 
telligent laboring  man  trained  to  this  specialty. 

It  is  said  in  the  printed ,  reports  issued  by  companies  owning 
type-setting  devices  that  some  large  daily  papers  require  thirty- 
five  such  machines  to  do  their  work.  The  Lanston  machine 
will  do  twice  as  much  work  as  is  claimed  for  each  of  such  ma- 
chines. This  will  enable  the  holders  of  Lanston  stock  to  judge 
of  its  value. 

To  obtain  the  results  indicated,  I  have  assumed  good  business 
methods  both  in  the  construction  of  the  machines  and  in  their 
presentation  to  the  public. 

The  drawings  are  now  so  far  completed  that  the  new  and  per- 
fected type-casting  machine  should  be  ready  for  estimates  as  to 
cost  of  construction  by  the  middle  of  December.  If  such  draw- 
ings are  made  in  accordance  with  shop  practice,  and  are  thus 
ready  for  work,  the  perfected  machine  should  be  done  in  from 
four  to  six  raontlis  after  contract  with  the  builder.  The  character 
of  the  machine  is  such  that  any  first-class  machine-shop  could 
build  it,  but  the  moulds  should  be  made  by  workman  under  the 
direction  of  the  persons  interested  in  the  invention. 

I  have  carefully  examined  the  patents  taken  out  in  this  country 
for  the  protection  of  the  invention,  covering  process  and  product, 


The  Lanston  Type-3Iachine.  19 

and  find  them  broad  and  well  expressed.  The  examination  of 
the  drawings  shows  many  matters  in  process  of  design  that  can 
be  secured  by  other  patents  which  from  the  novelty  of  the  in- 
vention will  be  valuable. 

The  foreign  patents  seem  to  have  been  taken  out  with  due  care 
to  the  requirements  of  each  country.  They  represent  a  wide  field 
of  operation  promising  profit. 

In  conclusion,  I  must  say  that  I  have  seldom  had  so  pleasing  a 
task  in  investigating  the  value  of  an  invention  as  in  the  present 
case.  The  novelty  of  the  contrivances  are  attractive  and  based  on 
sound  mechanical  principles.  I  have  been  greatly  aided  in  the 
study  of  the  machines  and  their  principles  by  the  inventor  and 
those  employed  by  him. 

The  invention  is  one  that  calls  for  a  more  enlarged  capitaliza- 
tion than  the  present  organized  company  represents.  The 
machines,  costing  from  one  thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  dollars 
each,  are  capable  of  earning  each  their  own  cost  per  annum  on 
the  base  of  a  saving  of  over  twenty-five  per  cent,  over  hand 
work,  without  counting  the  profits  for  type  sold. 

Hoping  that  my  investigation  will  satisfy  you  and  those  most 
interested,  I  am. 

Very  respectfully, 

Coleman  Sellers,  E.D. 


20  Expert  and  Legal  Reports  on 


EEPORT   ON   LEGAL  CONDITION   OF  THE   LAN- 

STON  TYPE-MACHINE  CO:\IPANY. 

BY   WM.  W.   GORDON. 

KiCHMOXD,  Va.,  October  9,  1889. 

Major  Jno.  W.  Johnston  : 

Dear  Sir, — At  your  request  I  went  to  Washington  for  the 
purpose  of  examining  into  the  legal  condition  of  the  Lanston 
Type-Machine  Company,  and  beg  leave,  after  a  full  examination 
of  the  records  of  the  company,  to  report  as  follows, — viz  : 

1.  The  charter  of  the  company  was  duly  taken  out  under  the 
laws  of  the  State  of  West  Virginia,  the  statutory  requirements 
in  procuring  the  same  having  been  fully  complied  with. 

2.  The  organization  of  the  company  is  entirely  regular,  all 
proper  proceedings  for  the  perfecting  thereof  having  been  taken. 
It  may  be  proper  to  say  that  the  records  upon  their  face  dis- 
closed an  irregularity  in  the  organization  which  appeared  to  me 
to  be  serious  and  of  which  you  were  at  once  apprised  by  me. 
I  immediately  called  this  to  the  attention  of  the  officers  of  the 
company  and  its  counsel,  and,  upon  making  a  thorough  exam- 
ination, found  that  the  apparent  difficulty  arose  out  of  an  im- 
perfect entry  of  the  real  facts  in  the  record  book  of  the  company. 
Before  leaving  Washington,  I  recommended  the  proper  correc- 
tion to  be  made,  so  that  the  record  should  correspond  with  the 
real  facts  as  they  appeared  from  the  material  in  possession  of 
the  company,  and  this  has  since  been  done. 

3.  The  proceedings  of  the  stockholders  and  directors,  both  as 
to  the  issue  of  stock  and  the  detailed  management  and  expendi- 
tures of  the  company  appear  to  have  been  taken  witii  unusual 
caution  and  minuteness  for  the  protection  of  those  interested. 

4.  The  patents  issued  for  Mr.  Lanston's  inventions  and  im- 
provements have  all  been  issued  either  directly  to  the  company 
as  his  assignee,  or  have  been  assigned  by  him  to  the  company 
when  issued  to  him.  Mr.  Lanston  has  also  made  a  contract  for 
the  further  assignment  by  him  to  the  company  of  all  perfections 
and  improvements  made  or  to  be  made  by  him,  during  a  period 


The  Lanston  Type- Machine.  21 

of  three  years,  upon  his  invention.  I  think  this  contract  secures 
all  that  may  be  reasonably  asked  or  had  in  reference  to  improve- 
ments not  yet  made.  This  contract  has  been  somewhat  modified 
from  the  original  draft  proposed,  in  order  to  meet  ray  views  as 
to  securing  the  fullest  protection  to  the  company. 

Let  me  add  that  I  have  very  little  knowledge  of  the  techni- 
calities peculiar  to  Patent  law,  but  I  have  had  full  and  free  con- 
ference with  Mr.  Melville  Church,  the  counsel  who  had  charge 
of  this  department  of  the  business,  and  who,  I  am  satisfied, 
understands  it  thoroughly.  Mr.  Church  has  at  my  request 
written  you  the  enclosed  letter  giving  you  information  upon  that 
subject  much  more  intelligibly  than  I  could  do. 

Yours  truly, 

Wm.  W.  Gordon. 


REPORT  ON  THE  LANSTON   PATENTS. 
BY  CHURCH  &  CHURCH. 

■Washington,  D.  C,  October  4,  1889. 

Major  J.  W.  Johnston, 

Birmingham,  Alabama : 

Dear  Sir, — You  have  asked  us  for  a  statement  in  regard  to 
the  inventions  and  patents  under  which  the  Lanston  Type- 
Machine  Company  is  operating,  and  also  in  regard  to  the  nature 
of  the  interest  which  said  company  has  in  such  inventions  and 
patents,  and  we  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  : 

The  inventions  under  which  the  company  is  operating  are 
those  of  Mr.  Tolbert  Lanston,  of  this  city,  and  in  order  that 
you  may  form  some  notion  of  their  character,  it  will  perhaps  be 
well  to  premise  with  a  statement  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the 
process  of  hand-composition,  as  practised  by  the  ordinary  printer, 
is  carried  on.  The  printer,  in  composing,  holds  what  is  called  a 
"  stick,"  or  receptacle  for  type,  in  one  hand,  while  with  the  other 
hand  he  picks  up  successively,  from  the  type  cases,  the  type 
which  he  requires,  assembling  them  one  after  another  in  the 
stick. 


22  Expert  and  Legal  Reports  on 

It  rarely  ever  happens  that  a  series  of  words,  uniformly  and 
regularly  spaced,  exactly  fill  a  line,  or,  in  other  words,  fill  the 
width  of  the  stick,  the  rule  being  that  a  space  of  greater  or  less 
length  is  left  at  the  end  of  the  line  which  must  be  filled  up  in 
what  is  called  the  process  of  justification,  which  process  consists, 
usually,  in  taking  out  some  of  the  space-types  between  words 
and  inserting  in  their  places  other  space-types  of  greater  or  nar- 
rower width,  or  simply  inserting  additional  space-types  without 
removing  any  of  those  already  in  the  line. 

Since  it  is  apparent  that  in  every  case  the  unoccupied  space  at 
the  end  of  the  line  must  bear  a  certain  relation  to  the  part  of 
the  line  filled  with  the  characters,  or,  in  other  words,  represent  a 
small  percentage  of  the  combined  width  of  such  characters,  it 
follows  that  if  there  be  added  to  the  normal  width  of  the  body 
of  each  of  the  assembled  types  a  percentage  of  increase  corre- 
sponding to  the  percentage  which  said  unoccupied  space  repre- 
sents of  the  occupied  space,  the  line  composed  of  types  so  formed 
will  be  rendered  self-justifying.  To  illustrate  this,  suppose  the 
unoccupied  space  in  a  line  required  to  be  taken  up  by  justifica- 
tion represented  one  per  cent,  of  the  part  of  the  line  filled  by 
type  of  the  normal  width,  the  addition  of  one  per  cent,  to  the 
normal  width  of  the  body  of  each  of  such  assembled  type  would 
cause  this  space  to  be  taken  up  or  absorbed,  one  per  cent,  of  ad- 
dition to  the  width  of  each  section  or  part  of  the  assembled  type 
being  equal  to  one  per  cent,  of  the  whole  aggregated  width  of 
said  type. 

Instead  of  thus  adding  to  each  type  a  certain  percentage  of 
the  width  thereof,  the  same  result  can  be  accomplished  either  by 
apportioning  the  unoccupied  space  in  the  line  equally  among  all 
the  types  therein,  and  thus  adding  to  all  the  types  a  certain  uni- 
form and  definite  increase  in  width, — say  a  one-five-hundredth 
of  an  inch  to  each, — or  by  apportioning  the  unoccupied  space  in 
the  line  equally  among  the  space-types  between  words  contained 
therein,  by  adding  an  equal  amount  of  increase  to  the  normal 
width  of  each  of  such  space's  value. 

Now,  the  radical  improvement  in  this  art  invented  by  Mr. 
Lanston  consisted,  broadly  stated,  in  first  ascertaining  the  length 
of  the   proposed    line   of  matter ;  then,  ascertaining  the  space 


The  Lanston   Type- Machine.  23 

which  would  be  required  to  be  filled  by  justification,  if  types  of 
normal  or  standard  size  were  employed  ;  and  finally,  forming  a 
series  of  types  for  the  line,  the  bodies  of  which,  or  of  some  of 
which,  are  varied  as  to  width  from  the  normal  an  amount  suffi- 
cient in  the  aggregate  to  absorb  the  said  space  required  to  be 
filled  by  justification. 

You  will  observe  that  this  invention  of  Mr.  Lanston's  is  basic 
and  fundamental  in  its  nature.  It  covers  the  method  or  manner 
of  doing  the  thing,  and  is  not  limited  to  any  particular  means 
for  doing  it.  The  method  may  be  practised  by  hand  or  by  ma- 
chinery, and  if  by  machinery  it  is  entirely  immaterial  what  the 
particular  construction  of  the  machine  may  be,  for  the  invention 
concerns  not  the  structure  or  particular  mechanism  of  the  ma- 
chine, but  the  several  acts  or  steps  of  the  new  method  practised 
by  means  of  it. 

Four  patents  have  been  granted  covering  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  invention,— viz,  Nos.  364,521,  364,522,  364,523, 
364,524,  all  dated  June  7,  1887. 

The  first  of  these  patents.  No.  364,521,  covers,  generically, 
the  variation  of  the  bodies  of  the  desired  nmnbe)^  of  types  form- 
ing a  line,  and,  specifically,  the  variation  of  the  bodies  of  all  the 
types  forming  a  line;  the  second  one.  No.  364,522,  covers  the 
variation  of  the  bodies  of  all  the  types  forming  a  line,  by  add- 
ing to  each  type  a  percentage  of  increase  corresponding  to  the 
percentage  which  the  unoccupied  space  represents  of  the  occupied 
space;  the  third.  No.  364,523,  covers  the  variation  of  the  bodies 
of  the  space-types  between  words  only ;  while  the  fourth.  No. 
364,524,  covers  a  form  of  type  produced  by  the  practice  of  the 
generic  method,  or,  in  order  words,  the  product  of  the  method. 

The  first  machine  which  the  company  built  for  practising  Mr. 
Lanston's  method  was  designed  to  form  the  type  from  cold  metal, 
— i.e.,  lead  strips, — and  while  it  completely  demonstrated  the 
practicability  of  carrying  out  Mr.  Lanston's  method  by  ma- 
chinery,— making  good  type  from  Avhich  good  print  was  pro- 
duced,— was  soon  displaced  by  a  second  and  much  better  machine 
which  made  or  moulded  type  from  hot  metal. 

The  first  machine  was  adequately  covered  by  patent  No.  364,- 
525,  dated  June  7,  1887,  and  the  second  one,  which  is  now  on 


24      Expert  and  Legal  Reports  on  The  Lanston  Type-Machine. 

exhibition,  forms  the  subject-matter  of  several  new  applications 
for  patents  now  being  prepared  by  us. 

The  second  machine  you  have  seen  in  operation.  It  makes, 
and  sets  up  into  forms,  justified  lines  of  type  which  require  no 
hand  manipulation  Nvhatever  to  prepare  them  for  printing  or 
stereotyping. 

We  would  add  that,  with  a  view  to  bringing  the  machinery 
for  carrying  out  Mr.  Lanston's  method  to  a  still  greater  degree 
of  perfection,  a  third  machine  has  been  designed  and  will  soon 
be  in  process  of  construction. 

This  last  machine  will  make  type  from  hot  metal,  and  the  ex- 
j)erience  gained  in  building  its  predecessor  will,  we  are  satisfied, 
enable  the  constructors  of  it  to  reduce  greatly  the  number  of 
parts,  as  well  as  increase  the  speed  and  general  efficiency  of  the 
machine. 

The  entire  property  in  all  of  these  inventions  and  improve- 
ments of  Mr.  Lanston  is  vested  in  the  company,  and  the  com- 
pany also  has  a  contract  with  ]\Ir.  Lanston,  wherein  he  obligates 
himself  to  endeavor  to  still  further  improve  upon,  develop,  and 
perfect  the  system  and  assign  to  the  company  any  improvements 
he  may  make. 

Besides  the  protection  secured  in  this  country,  patents  for  the 
Lanston  inventions  have  been  procured  in  Italy,  Austro-Hun- 
gary,  Great  Britiau,  Canada,  Belgium,  Germany,  and  France, 
and  assigned  to  the  company. 

This  will  give  you  a  general  idea  of  the  strength  of  the  com- 
pany's position  with  respect  to  inventions  and  patents.  We  have 
not  deemed  it  profitable  to  enter  into  a  description  of  the  ma- 
chines employed  in  carrying  out  Mr.  Lanston's  methods,  but 
should  you  desire  any  information  on  this  or  any  other  point,  we 
shall  be  pleased  to  give  it  to  you. 

Yours  truly, 

Church  &  Church. 


THE    LAI^^STON    TYPE-MACHINE 


Office  :   Room  106  Atlantic   Building. 


(The  Lanston  Type-Machine  FiiuV— Second  Machine.) 

WASHLNGTON,  D.  C, 

Sept.  1st,  1889. 


OUGANIZATIOI^. 

The  Lanstox  Type-Machine  Company. 
Incorporated  under  Ihc  laws  of  the  Stcde  of  West  Virginia. 
officers:— 

President,  M.  J.  Wine. 
Vice  Resident,  1.  L.  Johnson. 
Secretary,  B.  F.  Cole. 
Treasurer,  W.  H.  Hoeke. 

DIRECTORS. 

Benjamin  Butterworth.  W.  H.   Hoeke. 

B.   F.   Cole.  I.  L.  Johnson. 

Mellville  Church.  Tolbert  Lanston. 

J.  Maiu'y  Dove.  John  C.  Parker. 

W.  Clarence  Duvall.  C.  D.  Sigsbee. 

George  CliUson.  L.  D.  Wine, 

M.   J.  Wine. 

CAPITAL  STOCK. 

Shares, 50,000. 

Par  value, §20. 

Capital, ?1 .000 .000. 


THE   LANSTON  TYPE-MACHINE. 

A   MACHINE   TEAT   BEADS   COPY    ANV  AU- 
TOMATICALLY BE-WBITES  IT  IN  TYPE 
METAL. 

It  Is  Capable  Of  Doing  All  That  The  Compositor 

Does  And  Admits  Of  The  Same  Facilities  For 

The  Correction  Of  Errors,  Interpolations, 

Shiftii^g  Of  Matter,  &c.,  &c..  That  Are 

Found  In  Hand  Set-Type. 

ALL  THE  conditions  OF  THE  ART  AS  NOW  PRACTISED 
MECHANICALLY  REPRODUCED. 


To  THE   Public: 

The  above  cut  represents  a  machine  embodying  the  inven- 
tions of  Mr.  Tolbert  Lanston  of  this  city,  embracing  impor- 
tant improvements  in   the  art  of  printing. 

By  means  of  the  devices  invented  by  him  the  functions 
of  the  type-caster  and  the  compositor  are  combined  in  a 
single  mechanical  process,  the  type-metal  being  transferred 


from  the  crucible  to  the  galley  in  the  form  of  composed 
type  ready  for  the  press.  The  only  manual  part  of  the  work 
is  the  manipulation  of  a  key-board,  operated  independently 
as  to  time  and  place  from  the  type-machine  proper,  the 
movements  of  the  latter  being  entirely  automatic. 

ThLs  key-board  coutains  a  separate  key  for  every  charac- 
ter and  space  type  contained  in  a  complete  font.  They  are 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  in  number  in  the  machine  now 
in  use. 

The  depression  of  any  key  punches  a  round  hole  simulta- 
neously in  each  of  two  paper  ribbons.  When  the  last  syllable 
which  can  be  put  in  any  line  has  been  recorded  by  these 
holes  in  the  paper  ribbons,  the  extent  to  which  the  spaces 


of  that  line  must  be  varied  (by  being  made  either  smaller 
or  larger)  to  justify  the  line  is  indicated  by  a  scale,  and  a 
record  of  the  degree  of  variance  is  made  by  means  of  holes 
punched  in  one  of  the  paper  ribbons  only. 


Both  the  rolls  of  paper  having  been  filled  with  such  holes 
punched  at  definite  close  intervals  along  theii'  lengths,  are 
next  transferred  to  the  type-machine  proper.  It  is  evident 
that  as  the  pai^er  ribbons  are  placed  in  the  type-machine  just 
as  they  come  from  the  key-board,  the  holes  enter  the  type- 
machine  in  the  inverse  order  to  that  in  which  they  were 
made,  and  consequently  the  justifying  holes  will  enter  the  ma- 
chine immediately  before  the  line  to  which  they  apply,  and  by 
their  presence  devices  are  first  put  in  oi^eration  which,  while 
permitting  the  character  types  to  be  formed  of  proper  normal 
body  width,  automatically  alter  the  width  of  the  space  type 
in  the  line  in  the  amount  previously  read  on  the  scale  at  the 
key-board  as  teing  necessary  to  secui-e  the  justification  of 
that  particular  line. 

OPERATION    OF    JUSTIFlEPv    ILLUSTRATED. 

When  in  the  course  of  humau  events  it  becomes  (vormal) 
When  in  the  course  of  humau  events  it  becomes 
When  in  the  coui'se  of  humau  events  it  becomes 
When  in  the  eoui^se  of  human  events  it  becomes 
When  in  the  coiu'se  of  human  events  it  Ijecomes 
When  in  the  course  of  human  events  it  becomes 
When  in  the  coiu'se  of  human  events  it   becomes 
When  in  the  coiu'se  of  human  events  it  becomes 
When   in    the    coiu'se    of    human   events    it    becomes 
When   in    the    coui'se    of    human    events    it    l)ecomes 
When    in    the    coui'se    of    human    events    it    l)ecomes 
When    in    the    coui'se    of    hiuuau    events    it    becomes 
When    in    the    coui'se    of    humau    events    it    becomes 
When    in    the    coui'se    of    human    events    it    becomes 

The  automatic  continuance  of  these  processes  results  in 
casting  the  types  compasing  the  line  in  the  inverse  order  of 
theii'  aii-angement  therein,  and  in  their  being  placed  in  the 
galley  accurately  justified,  ready  to  be  arranged  in  the  form 
on  the  imposing  stone. 

As  a  general  conclusion  it  can  be  said  that  these  inventions 
automatically  make  and  set  type  at  a  rate  daily  which  will 
supplant  the  labor,  in  its  present  form,  of  the  type-caster,  of 
those  engaged  in  the  hand  fiuLshing  of  type  at  the  foundries. 


and  of  Ave  compositors,  a  total  of  eight  persons.  To  do  this 
requii'es  the  services,  on  an  average,  of  one  and  one-thii'd  per- 
sons to  each  type-machine  and  key-board. 

The  commercial  advantages  of  this  immense  saving  of  labor 
are  aj^parent,  and  the  su^jplemental  advantages  may  be  learned 
from  the  following  statement  of — 

WHAT  THE  LANSTON  MACHINES  WILL  BE  FOUND  TO  DO. 

(1)  To  select  the  character  with  absolute  certainty. 

(2)  To  form  each  type  according  to  its  proper  relative  size. 

(3)  To  vary  some  or  all  of  the  type  bodies  so  that  when 
the  last  character  in  the  line  shall  have  been  made  the  line 
will  be  acciu^ately  justifi.ed; 

(4)  To  use  with  equal  facility  all  the  characters  of  as 
full  a  font  of  type  as  can  be  found  in  any  printing  office,  in- 
cluding special  characters  to  almost  any  number  desii'ed. 

(5)  To  make  and  set  different  fonts  of  type  (e.  g.,  long 
primer,  bourgeois,  brevier,  &c.)  upon  a  single  machine  with 
but  slight  mechanical  changes. 

(6)  To  form  type  of  correct  bodies  and  without  burrs,  and 
of  good  faces,  that  stand  as  squarely  on  their  feet  as  the  best 
foundry  type. 

(7)  To  set  the  type,  consecutively  as  made,  in  lines  in  the 
galley. 

(8)  To  make  forms  of  type  subject  to  all  the  conditions  of 
hand-set  type  in  making  corrections  or  changes  in  proof. 

(9)  To  mal:e  and  set  type  at  a  fixed  and  uniform  rate  of 
speed — not  subject  to  human  endurance,  infirmities  or  neces- 
sities. 

(10)  The  type  so  made,  after  their  single  use,  to  possess  a 
commercial  value  in  excess  of  the  cost  of  theii'  ]3roduction. 

(11)  The  i^aper  ribbons,  after  being  used,  can  be  latelled 
and  stored  for  futui'e  use  in  reprints,  in  lieu  of  stereotype 
plates,  occupying  but  small  space  and  being  of  little  cost. 

(12)  The  type-machines  being  located  at  commercial  centers, 
key-boards  may  Ijc  distributed  among  outlying  towns,  for  use 
in  country  newspai)er  offices  and  by  individuals,  the  paper  rib- 
bons procluced  by  them  sent  to  the  machines,  aud  stereotype 
plates  or  printed  sheets  retui^ned.    It  will  be  seen  that  coun- 


try  editors,  while  thus  maintaining  the  entire  control  of  the 
originalit}^  of  theii'  matter,  will  need  no  other  printing  out- 
fit than  a  key-boird. 

(13)  Authors,  newspaper  correspondents,  &c.,  by  using  the 
key-board  instead  of  the  ordinary  type-writer,  will  practically 
become  their  own  compositors. 

(14)  Within  certain  broad  limitations  as  to  sizes  of  type, 
and  the  use  of  straight  lines  only,  these  machines  may  be 
used  in  job  or  display  work. 

(15)  Algebraic  signs,  geometrical,  musical,  astronomical  or 
other  technical  characters,  Greek  alphabets,  &c.,  &c.,  can  be 
placed  in  the  die  case  and  used  at  will. 

(16)  The  use  of  these  machines  involves  no  departure  from 
the  i^resent  every-day  practices  of  printing  offices  in  the 
handling  of  composed  type.  All  the  fui^nitui'e  and  equipment 
remain  in  use. 

(17)  Any  office  adopting  these  machines  would  be  able  to 
dispose  of  theii'  old  type  for  recasting  in  the  machines. 

(18)  Indicators  can  be  placed  on  the  machines  to  count 
every  type  cast  and  set. 

(19)  The  investment  necessary  to  secure  the  introduction 
of  the  machines  would  about  equal  the  outlay  for  type  under 
the  present  plan;  but  a  new  dress  for  every  issue  follows  the 
use  of  the  machines,  and  the  immense  loss  from  the  wear  of 
type  is  avoided. 

(20)  The  floor  space  covered  by  the  machines  would  be  but 
a  small  i)art  of  that  used  by  compositors,  and  the  saving 
from  this  soui'ce,  together  with  gas,  &c.,  would  be  a  consid- 
erable item. 

(21)  The  punched  ribbons  may  be  used  to  reproduce  the 
characters  in  type  of  any  size,  or  of  difCerent  sizes,  at  differ- 
ent times  and  places. 

(22)  The  operator  of  the  key-board— the  compositor— is  re- 
moved from  the  heat  and  noise  of  the  machinery,  and  being 
more  comfortably  and  quietly  situated  will  make  less  errors 
than  he  otherwise  would. 

(23)  The  number  of  compositors  employed  in  this  country 
is  somewhere  between  80,000  and  100,000.  To  introduce  1,000 
machines  would  displace  1  in  20,  or  nearly  that.    It  may  be 


8 

assumed  that  the  general  introduction  of  machines  of  tliis 
character  will  multiply  the  amount  of  printing  indefinitely 
because  of  their  cheapening  effect. 

(24)  It  may  be  expected,  in  time,  that  the  key-boird  would 
enter  into  general  use  in  public  offices,  corporations,  mercan- 
tile houses,  manufactories,  &c. ,  as  theii'  use  in  private  hands 
will  so  reduce  the  cost  of  printing  as  to  include  in  the  vol- 
ume of  work  done  many  thing-s  now  omitted  because  of  that 
cost.  The  present  immense  use  of  devices  for  i)roducing  man- 
ifold copies  is  indicative  of  a  want  in  this  direction.  This 
distribution  of  key-boards  would  in  itself  be  the  source  of  a 
large  direct  revenue,  besides  the  greater  one  arising  from 
their  being  tributary  to  the  type-macliines. 

The  construction  of  the  Lanston  Machines  has  pro- 
gressed to  the  point  of  successful  practical  demonstration,  and 
public  attention  is  invited  to  them  in  the  confident  belief 
that  an  impartial  investigation  will  convince  all  of  theii'  grcfd 
value  as  labor-saving  devices. 


District  of  Columbia,        . 
County  of  Washington,       *    ' 

Personally  appeared  before  me,  a  Notary  PubUc  in  and  for 
the  county  and  District  aforesaid,  Arthur  W.  Cathcart,  who 
]x?ing  duly  sworn  says  that  he  is  a  machinist  and  in  the 
employ  of  the  Lanston  Type-Machine  Company,  and  in 
charge  of  its  type-casting  and  setting  machines;  that  all 
of  the  types  from  which  the  foregoing  announcement  '^To  the 
Public,"  was  printed,  were  automatically  cast  and  set  in  the 
galley  in  justified  lines,  by  the  Lanston  Machine,  under 
his  immediate  control  and  supervision,  excepting  only  the 
correction  of  typographic  errors,  few  in  number,  and  the  ex- 
change of  good  type  for  defective  casts,  not  to  exceed  forty 
in  the  entii^e  article. 

A.  W.  Cathcart. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  twenty-second  day 
of  August,  1889. 

Frank  S.  Atwell, 

Notary  Public. 


V/ashington.  D.  C,  August  23,  1889. 
This  is  to  certify  that  we  have  this  day  witnessed  and 
tested  by  actual  count  the  speed  of  the  Lanston  Type-Ma- 
chine, and  found  it  to  cast  and  set  into  justiiied  lines  one 
hundred  md  two  (102)  type  a  minute.  We  have  no  interest  in 
this  machine,  and  this  is  the  first  occasion  some  of  us  have 
ever  heard  of  it.  It  seems  destined  to  create  a  revolution  in 
the  lusiness  of  type-setting  and  sprinting. 

M.  F.  Morris. 

William  B.  Cturley. 

I  certify   that   I   witnessed   the   foregoing   test   and  concur 
in  the  statement  made  in  the  certificate. 

Noble  D.  Larner. 


la 


GIBSON  BROTHERS, 
FEIN  TEES     AND     BOOKBIN  DEES, 

1238  pennsylvania  avenue, 
Cor.  13th  Street. 

Washinrjton,  V.  C,  Aiig.    24,  1889. 

To  The  Lanston  Type-Machine  Company. 
Gentlemen: — 

Several  years  ago,  I  learned  that  Mr.  Tolbert  Lanston, 
with  whom  I  have  been  acquainted  for  more  than  twenty 
years,  was  engaged  in  the  invention  of  a  machine  which  he 
claimed  would  automatically  cast,  set,  and  jrustify  type. 
During  the  progress  of  the  work  on  his  immense  and  won- 
derful undertaking,  when  at  times  unexpected  difficulties  and 
delays  were  encountered,  causing  more  or  less  despondency 
on  the  part  of  not  a  few  of  the  stockholders,  never  for  a 
single  moment  did  my  faith  waver;  and  now  that  he  has 
successfully  completed  a  machine  which  accomplishes  all  that 
he  claimed  it  wouJd  do,  the  only  regret  I  ha\e  is  that  the 
condition  of  rr.y  £  nances  rJid  no-j  permit  m3  to  show  my 
faith  in  a  more  substantial  manner. 

I  am  a  stockholdc]  and  otherwise  Irteresled  in  the  inven- 
tions of  Mr.  Lanston  relating  to  the  art  of  printing,  and 
have  repeatedly  witnessed  the  operations  of  the  machine,  ex- 
amined samples  of  its  type  and  its  work,  and  have  frequently 
executed  printing  fi'om  its  products  with  satisfactory  results. 

I  have  been  engaged  at  the  printing  business  as  compasitor, 
pressman,  or  manager  for  a  thii'd  of  a  century,  and  as  a 
practical  printer  desire  to  say  I  have  no  doubt  that  when 
the  machine  is  simpMed  as  intended,  the  matrices  perfected, 
and  the  metal  manipulated  by  an  expert,  it  will  do  all  that 
is  claimed  for  it  in  the  twenty-foiu'  paragrapLs  as  set  forth 
by  the  company,  and  the  name  of  Tolbert  Lanston  will  be 
placed  alongside  of  those  of  the  greatest  inventors  the  world 
has  ever  known. 

Respectfully  yours, 

Geo.  Gibson. 


11 


The  Daily  and  Weekly  PaLriot. 

Hakrisburg,  Pa. 
Sept.,  4,  1889. 

To  the  Lanston  Type-Machine  Company. 
G-entlemen: — 
I  learn  with  pleasure  that  arrangements  are  being  perfected 
for  the  inanufactui'e  and  sale  of  the  Lanston  type-casting 
and  composing  machine.  Having  seen  the  machine  in  opera- 
tion at  various  stages  of  its  development  and  watched  its 
growth  to  a  state  of  perfection,  I  can  say  that  I  am  thor- 
oughly convinced  of  its  practicability  and  of  its  easy  adapta- 
tion to  the  purposes  for  which  it  is  intended.  So  profoundly 
am  I  impressed  with  its  superiority  over  other  machines  that 
either  compase  type  or  cast  lines  of  type,  that  I  have  or- 
dered it  for  use  in  this  ofBce  and  shall  expect  the  company 
to  give  me  the  very  first  machine  it  turns  out  for  the  mar- 
ket. 

I  am,  Resp'y  yours, 

B.  F.  Meyers, 
Pras't.  Patriot  Publishing  Company. 


Lynchburg,  Va., 

Sept.  16th,  1889. 

I  have  seen  the  Lanston  Type-Machine  operate  a  num- 
ber of  times,  and  am  satisfied  of  its  great  utility.  It  does 
its  work  thoroughly  well  and  with  a  rapidity  equal  to  that 
of  several  compositors.  Unless  some  difficulty  should  be  de- 
veloped which  I  cannot  foresee,  I  believe  it  is  destined  to 
great  success,  the  field  for  such  an  invention  being  practi- 
cally unlimited. 

Alex.  McDonald, 

Ed.  Virginian. 


12 


JUDD  &  DETWEILER, 
PEI2VTEKS    AND    PUBLISEEBS, 

420  meventh  Street  N.  W., 

Washington,  J).  C,  August  21,  1889. 

To  The  Lanston  Type-Machine  Company. 
Gentlemen: — 

In  answer  to  frequent  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  Lanston 
type-casting  and  compasing  machine,  we  would  state  that  we 
have  watched  with  keen  interest  the  progress  of  the  machine 
from  its  incipiency  up  to  the  present  time,  and  have  suffi- 
ciently familiarized  om\selves  with  its  methods  and  the  re- 
sults achieved  to  state  that  we  are  not  only  sui'prised  at  its 
wonderful  mechanism,  but  at  the  many  apparently  insur- 
mountable difficulties  that  seemed  to  us  to  be  impossible  to 
overcome.  It  has  reached  a  stage  that  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  its  practicability  is  no  longer  in  doubt. 

We  have  taken  the  type  from  the  galley  as  cast  and  set 
by  the  machine,  put  them  in  the  chase  and  to  press,  and 
worked  from  them  with  very  little  more  care  than  from  or- 
dinary type. 

The  imperfections  at  present  consist  mainly  in  the  imper- 
fect matrices,  which,  of  coui^se,  can  be  easily  remedied;  we 
deem  it  only  a  question  of  time  to  bring  all  of  its  parts  to 
perfection ,  when  the  "  Lanston  Type-Machine  "  will  rank 
side  by  side  with  the  greatest  mechanical  devices  of  the  age, 
and  when  the  art  of  type-setting  will  be  reduced  to  one-half 
its  present  cast  and  when  much  of  the  weary  midnight  labor 
now  in  vogue  will  be  dispensed  with. 
Respectfully  youi's, 

JuDD    &    DeTWEITjER. 


13 


[Extract  from  the  expert  report  of  Albert  W.  Stahl,  M. 
E.,  graduate  of  the  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology^  Hobo- 
ken  N.  J.,  and  of  the  U.  S.  Naval  Academy,  where  he 
graduated  at  the  head  of  the  class  of  Cadet  Engineers.  Also 
Pi'ofessor  of  Mechanical  Engineering,  Furdue  U niversity ,  In- 
diana, for  thirteen  years  an  officer  of  the  JEngineer  Cov'ps 
of  the  U.  S.  N.] 

"The  whole  conception  is  remarkably  ingenious,  and  the  ac- 
tual machine  carries  out  successfully  the  required  operations. 
The  method  of  handling  the  type-metal  substantially  agrees 
with  the  method  employed  in  ordinary  type-founding. 

"To  ascertain  the  accuracy  of  the  product  in  point  of  size, 
I  measui'ed  with  a  micrometer  the  widths  of  eighty-eight 
types  selected  at  random  from  type  made  in  my  presence  by 
the  machine  and  from  an  unused  font  of  ordinary  foundry 
type  of  good  quality.  All  the  types  representing  each  letter 
were  found  to  vary  slightly  among  themselves,  the  error  being 
about  the  same  in  the  two  kinds  of  type,  and  too  small  to 
be  practically  aj^preciable  in  either  kind. 

"The  machine  in  my  presence  was  producing  justified  lines 
of  type  at  the  rate  of  ninety  (90)  types  per  minute,  and  it 
is  my  opinion  that  a  considerably  higher  speed  can  be  suc- 
cessfully maintained  with  the  more  massive  and  rigid  ma- 
chines hereafter  to  be  constructed.  The  justified  lines  of 
type  placed  in  the  galley  in  my  presence  were  all  of  the 
same  length,  as  far  as  could  be  judged  by  the  eye  and  by  the 
touch,  and  requii-ed  no  adjustment  of  any  kind  preparatory 
to  being  locked  in  the  form." 


[Extract  from  the  expert  report  of  Wm.  Heckert,  M.  E.,of 
New  York  City.] 

"I  have  found  in  it  one  of  those  interesting  cases  where  the 
human  intellect  is  so  blended  and  connected  with  fine  mech- 
anism that  it  requires  an  acute  observer  to  see  where  one 
ends  and  the  other  begins. 


J4 

"The  inventor  seems  to  have  fully  comprehended  the  re- 
quirements and  subdivisions  which  insure  the  greatest  variety, 
economy,  and  rapidity  of  work. 

"Such  results  from  a  machine  representing  the  inventor's 
first  efforts  entitle  him  to  the  highest  commendation.  No 
previous  invention  of  corresponding  magnitude  and  suiTOunded 
with  as  many  difficultias  has  attained  a  higher  degree  of  per- 
fection in  its  infancy,  and,  as  with  other  inventions,  we  may 
expect  that  fui'ther  developments,  simpMcatious,  and  in- 
creased efficiency  will  follow  as  the  results  of  progressive,  ju- 
dicious management,  opening  a  new  era  in  the  art  of  printing, 
and  realizing  the  projector's  fullest  anticipations." 


15 

THE  BELLS. 
I. 

Hear  the  sledges  with  the  bells- 
Silver  belLs— 
What  a  world  of  merriment  their  melody  foretells! 
How  they  tinkle,  tinkle,  tinkle, 

In  the  icy  air  of  night 
While  the  stars  that  oversprinkle 
All  the  heavens,  seem  to  twinkle 
With  a  crystalline  delight- 
Keeping  time,  time,  time, 
In  a  sort  of  Runic  rhyme, 
To  the  tintinnabulation  that  so  musically  swells 
From  the  bells,  bells,  bells,  bells, 
Bells,  bells,  belLs— 
From  the  jingling  and  the  tinkling  of  the  bells. 

II. 

Hear  the  mellow  wedding  beUs— 
Golden  bells! 
What  a  world  of  happiness  their  harmony  foretells! 
Through  the  balmy  air  of  night 
How  they  ring  out  theii'  delight! 
From  the  molten-golden  notes, 

And  all  in  tune, 
What  a  liquid  ditty  floats 
To  the  tui'tle  that  listens,  while  she  gloats 
On  the  moon 
Oh,  from  out  the  sounding  cells, 
What  a  gush  of  euphony  voluminously  wells! 
How  it  swells! 
How  it  dwells 
On  the  Future!  how  it  tells 
Of  the  rapture  that  impels 
To  the  swinging  and  the  ringing 

Of  the  beUs,  bells,  bells, 
Of  the  belLs,  beUs,  bells,  bells. 
Bells,  bells,  bells— 
To  the  rhyming  and  the  chiming  of  the  bells. 


16 

THE  PETER-BIRD. 

When  summer's  birds  are  bringing 

Their  clear  concerted  singing, 
Singing  gladder,  gladder,  gladder  in  their  glees; 

When  finches  and  the  thrushes 

Make  vocal  all  the  bushes. 
And  the  lark  his  note  of  morning  welcome  freas- 

I  hear  no  meter  sweeter 

Than  "Peter-Peter-Peter ," 
That  the  Peter-bii'd  is  singing  in  my  trees. 

How  good  to  lie  and  listen, 

Where  brooks  in  summer  glisten. 
As  they  ripple,  ripple,  ripple  to  the  seas; 

Where  faintly     in  the  pebbles 

They  play  their  pretty  trebles 
In  the  plaintive,  sad  and  tender  minor  keys; 

But  they  can  play  no  meter 

Like  "Peter-Peter-Peter," 
That  the  Peter-bii'd  is  singing  in  my  trees. 

When  softly  at  the  nooning 

I  hear  the  clover  crooning, 
Of  its  nectar,  nectar,  nectar,  and  the  bees; 

When  corn  a-fleld  is  drying. 

And  fading  blades  are  flying 
With  a  floating  pennon-rustle  in  the  breeze. 

Oh  sweet  it  is,  but  sweeter 

Is  "Peter-Peter-Peter," 
That  the  Peter-bii'd  is  singing  in  my  trees. 

When  summer's  joy  is  over 

And  bees  have  robbed  the  clover. 
Leaving  odor,  only  odor,  to  appease; 

When  red  autumnal  juices 

Make  music  in  their  sluices 
As  the  fi'uity  cuiTents  gurgle  from  their  lees; 

The  wine-tide  sings  not  sweeter 

Than  "Peter-Peter-Peter," 
That  the  Peter-bird  is  singing  in  my  trees. 

Kenry  Thoni'pson  Stanix)n. 


